The
Maamba
Township residents in Sinazongwe district have expressed distress at their subjection to drinking mud water coming from the taps.
The water being emitted from the taps is visibly brown in colour and contains mud.Maamba Hospital Environmental Health Technologist Most Chilomo said the water was unfit for human consumption because it contains a lot of visible impurities.He said in its current state even chlorinating or boiling it would not purify the mud and other impurities that are making it to be coloured.Mr. Chilomo noted that the current filtration process at the
Maamba
Township treatment plant was not update because it was designed to treat water that was already clean at the source.
He said Sinazongwe health would have advised the Maamba mine to stop discharging water to the households but they have failed because most people use water borne toilets.“Maamba water could only be used to flush toilets because drinking it may because stomach upsets, diarrhoea, conjunctivitis, and may cause mental retardation in children if the water contains lead elements,†Mr Chilomo said.He urged Zambia Consolidated Copper Mine (ZCCM) Investment holdings to look into the Maamba water to address the problems of water affecting its workers.Mr. Chilomo said the Environmental health department would take samples of water to
Lusaka for tasting.A Maamba resident Paul moonga said the problem of water has been going on for long time as Maamba mine has failed to address it and people were now fed up with the scenario. A check at the Treatment Plant by ZANIS found workers changing sand in one of the tanks with the special one that the mine ordered from Kapirimposhi in
Central
Province.
 Maamba Mine Section head for water, Edward Nzala told ZANIS at the water treatment site that the current problem of filthy water being discharged to residents is a result of water levels that have receded at the Pumping station on
Lake
Kariba.
He said at the time the treatment plant was belt no one thought that the water levels would recede to about three metres deep. Mr. Nzala said even the sand they were changing would not help to change the colour of the water because the current tanks they were using was for rapid treatment and  it does not allow water to settle for some time for proper filtration to take place. He said the permanent solution was for government to help them to find a lasting solution of shifting the current pumping station to a place where water does not recede.Â
Mr. Nzala said the problem of water in Maamba started in 1995 but in the last three years it has become worse.In July this year
Sinazongwe District Health Director Dr
.kebby Musokotwane described the Maamba water as unfit for human consumption.Dr. Musokotwane said the water was visible to the eye that it was contaminated and needed urgent attention because it could cause skin infections. Â
[ZANIS]
As Maamba residents we are fed with this situation which is seemingly going on unattended to.Please may someone who is caring enough help us before we are attacked by the mentioned diseases which will affect our eyes and skins especially the children who might take it direct from the taps before it is boiled or chlorinated.
Worried Maamba resident.
The ECZ is not functioning accordingly because the guyz at ECZ should implement policies that will prevent industries from discharging wastes that are harmfull to humans.If any company is not not operating according to the policies and implimentation it should be charged to compensate for pollution caused to the environment.
The water is not the problem its how we treat it. If we work better to treat it well something might change to our environment.